Meant to Be
by Ciara in cotton socks
Summary: Victoire Weasley is spending a happy evening with her family at Shell Cottage when a knock at the window changes everything.  She has alway considered the beach outside her house to be magically romantic.  She just didn't know Teddy thought so too.


**A/N: Though I wish I could claim the ingenious idea of writing stories inspired by the beautiful songs of Melissa Polinar, it was in fact the brainchild of Vanity Sinning. This is part of my entry to her 'The Next Generation Musical Competition' on the HPFC forum. Each contestant was given five songs by a particular artist (in my case, Melissa Polinar) and had to write five different stories based on them about the same next generation characters. Mine, as you can see, are Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley, and this oneshot incorporates lyrics from the song 'Meant to Be', from which it also takes its title.**

**This is the fourth one-shot of my five (the first three being 'Say You'll Stay', 'Try' and 'Honestly' respectively), and all feedback, both positive and constructively critical, is more than welcome. I hope you enjoy!**

**Kisses,**

**Ciara**

**/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/**

Victoire sat in the closest armchair to the fireplace in the sitting room of Shell Cottage. It was summer, and while the day had been a bright, sunny one, the evening had taken a considerably chilly turn. Victoire sat with a heavy woollen blanket around her shoulders, watching her brother and sister squabble on the floor over who had won the last game of Exploding Snap. A heavy leather-bound tome rested in her lap, a birthday gift from her Aunt Hermione. She had been intending to start into it, but Dom and Louis's antics had distracted her. It had been so long since the entire family had been together properly. Victoire was home quite a bit on her time off from St Mungo's, but Louis and Dom were still at Hogwarts. She hadn't seen them since Christmas, and she knew her parents were just as excited as she was to have the whole family together under one roof again. Her mum hadn't stopped cooking and baking since Dom and Louis arrived home for the holidays, and Dad was constantly grinning from ear to ear.

"Victory is mine!" Dominique crowed, raising her hands jubilantly as the house of cards exploded in Louis's face. She blew a couple of stray strands of hair out of her pretty, heart-shaped face and glanced up at Victoire with a mischievous glint in her eyes reminiscent of their Uncle George. "So Vic... heard from Teddy recently?"

"Oh shut up Dom."

"That's a yes then?"

Victoire rolled her eyes and tossed a brightly patterned scatter cushion at her younger sister. Dominique dodged it easily, her Quidditch reflexes coming into play, and instead the cushion clocked Louis on the side of the head.

"Oi!" he exclaimed indignantly as the two girls collapsed into giggling heaps. A competitive cushion-fight promptly broke out as he aimed a wicked return shot at Victoire and almost sent her novel flying into the embers. Louis was the youngest of the trio, but he was also the most athletic and an alliance was quickly formed between Victoire and Dominique to take him down a peg or two.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on in- Oi!"

"Sorry Daddy," Dominique choked out, tears of mirth streaking her porcelain cheeks. "Necessary tactical manoeuvre."

"How so?"

"To distract Louis, so Vic could do... _that_," she giggled as Victoire launched two pillows at their brother in quick succession. The battle came to an exhausted halt as the siblings' mother appeared in the doorway from the kitchen with a tray piled high with blue and silver iced cupcakes.

"Truce?" Louis asked hopefully, eyeing the buns with undisguised longing.

"Truce," the girls agreed in unison, and the three of them promptly dived on the tray of cakes. Their mother sighed good-naturedly and handed it over with an air of defeat before settling herself on the couch next to her husband. Bill gave her a fond, one-armed cuddle and grinned broadly. Fleur took a quick peck at his cheek and then fed him a bite of her own cupcake, a blue-iced one with white flowers on top. The family fell into an easy, contented rhythm, chatting and gossiping happily.

An hour or so later, when the sky outside had darkened fully to deepest midnight blue, came a tap at the front window. As her father and brother dozed fitfully in their respective seats and her mother and Dominique cleared up in the kitchen, Victoire made her way over to investigate. She peered out through the thick glass pane, but saw nothing. Frowning, she pushed the window open and looked out into the night. Over the slight hill outside their front yard, Victoire could hear the wind rustling over the waters of the sea. She stuck her head out the window fully, craning her neck to see better.

"Nice night, eh?"

Victoire almost toppled out the window, and emitted the tiniest of surprised squeaks. Standing on the crest of the hill, beaming broadly and shivering slightly in the stiff breeze, was Teddy Lupin. Her long-term boyfriend was wearing a bright orange Cannons sweater which contrasted magnificently with the lime green colour of his hair, as well as jeans and a slightly grubby pair of trainers. The mischievous grin Victoire had become accustomed to was firmly in place, as was the impish twinkle in his eyes.

"Coming for a walk?"

"Teddy, what on earth are you doing here?" Victoire asked incredulously.

"Oh, charming," he teased in return. "I just wanted to see you, not a crime is it?"

"No, no of course not!" Victoire exclaimed. "Wait there, I'll get my coat."

With a rush of exhilaration flooding through her veins she shut the window and hurried up the stairs. It was typical of Teddy to do something like this; he was always turning up unexpectedly in silly little romantic gestures. She felt a surge of affection towards her Metamorphmagus boyfriend as she sifted through Dominique's ridiculously large collection of clothes to find her own paisley-print anorak, before tearing back downstairs and slipping out the front door to where Teddy stood waiting patiently. A chilly wind rippled through the pair of them; Victoire could see Teddy trembling with the cold.

"Long time no see," she grinned, shutting the rusty gate behind her and wrapping him up in a warm embrace. "Blimey, you're shaking like a leaf."

"Must be the excitement of seeing you," he replied roguishly. Victoire pretended to wretch at his cheesy statement, but a twitch of her lips betrayed her true emotions. She looped her arm into Teddy's and the pair of them made their way over the hill and down onto the golden sand of the small beach. They lapsed into a comfortable silence as they padded along the deserted strand, comfortable in each other's company and revelling in a rare moment of privacy.

"This is the first place we ever kissed," Teddy murmured after a while. "Remember? It was Dom's birthday, and you were sulking because Fred hit you in the face with a Quaffle."

"Well it hurt," she said defensively. Then she gave a little laugh and a smile washed over her immaculate features. "And I came running down here so nobody would see me crying, and you came after me. And you gave me a hug, told me it was alright. And then you- you kissed me. And it was brilliant, like nothing I'd never felt before. Proper magic, not the stuff we learned at Hogwarts."

"I reckon it's this place," Teddy said softly with a sweeping gesture across the scenic landscape. "There's something about it, you can feel it, even tonight, in the summer breeze."

"Teddy, what on earth are you talking about?"

"Look Vic, I came here tonight because I needed to talk to you. Vic, every time you hold my hand, there's an understanding of who I am. When it's you I'm with, I come alive. I-it's just so clear to see. Vic, darling, we are meant to be."

"Teddy," Victoire said shakily, coming to a halt and putting a hand on one of his broad collarbones. "Have you and Fred been on a pub crawl again? You know what happened last time, it never-"

"Vic, can you just let me finish? Please?" Teddy exclaimed, and his voice was so infused with hysteria that Victoire didn't argue. She nodded and stared up at him, bewilderment furrowing her usually clear brow. "Good... good. Vic, I feel at home whenever you're around. I feel so secure, so safe, so sound. I've been given more than I could ever ask for, and I only feel whole when I'm with you. When we're apart there's this huge hole in my chest, right next to the one where my mum and dad should be, and it's only filled when I have you near me."

"Teddy, what are you saying?" Victoire asked nervously. He smiled sheepishly and gulped in a huge breath of air before diving into the sand at her feet. He fumbled for a moment in the pocket of his jeans and withdrew a small velvet box. Victoire felt her chest constrict and her heart pounded painfully against her ribcage. "Oh Merlin. Ohmerlinohmerlinohmerlin."

Teddy prised the box open and propped himself up on one knee.

"Victoire Weasley, you are the one for me. I don't care what anyone else thinks, I will love you throughout all my days. Vic, happiness happens when our hearts combine. I want to make you that happy, forever. I never want you to feel sad or lonely, I want to be the one to make you smile. I want you by my side. And that's why I'm here, kneeling in the sand outside your house at midnight. Victoire Weasley," he said, gasping for breath again. "W-will you marry me?"

Victoire stared dumbly down at him, at the exquisite ring sitting on the tiny silk cushion. It was simple but beautiful, a thin gold band with a large blue sapphire embedded in a nest of sparkling diamonds. She recognised it from the old photo albums in her parents' bedroom, the ones she, Dom and Louis used to sneak peeks at when their parents weren't in the house.

"W-was that your mother's?" she whispered numbly. Teddy nodded shakily.

"My parents were war heroes," he said slowly. "But more importantly, their love was eternal. I want that for us, Victoire. I want you to be my wife."

Victoire smiled softly and glanced back up at the cottage, where figures were stirring inside the front window.

"You know you're facing the Goblin Inquisition over this, right?" she grinned, pulling a face. "I'm pretty sure Uncle George might threaten to kill you, and Merlin knows what Dad and Louis have up their sleeves."

"Is that a yes?" Teddy asked, hardly daring to hope. Victoire beamed and extended her left hand for him to slip the flawless ring onto her finger with a giggle.

"Meant to be, right?" she beamed excitedly. "Might as well make it official."

Teddy scooped her into his arms with a delighted whoop and pressed a passionate kiss to her waiting lips. Victoire rested her cheek next to his and a contented sigh fluttered through her lips. Overhead, a full moon bathed the couple in silvery moonlight, framing the scene perfectly. And unbeknownst to either of them, four figures stood in the front window of Shell Cottage, all four of them with tears in their eyes.

"Right then," Teddy said after the longest of moments. "Time to go face the music."

It was the beginning of a long and happy marriage that both her parents and his could be proud of.


End file.
